Mayor Fred Lim………the pathological liar

LIM TO VETO OIL DEPOT ORDINANCE
MANILA, Philippines – Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim vowed yesterday to veto a draft city ordinance seeking to allow the retention of the Pandacan oil depot.
Speaking to reporters at Manila City Hall, Lim said he was not consulted about the proposed ordinance, which is still pending at the Manila City Council.
“I also stated if the draft (Ordinance 7177) reaches my table and I see that it contravenes the ruling of the Supreme Court, then I will veto it,” he said.
“Attempts to link me to the issue on the city ordinance reclassifying the land use of the portions of land where Pandacan oil depots are located, into a commercial zone and implicitly granting the big three oil companies their continued operation in the area, are so dubious in terms of timing and intent, not to mention very misleading in content,” Lim added.
Lim said Ordinance 8027, passed on Nov. 20, 2001; the memorandum of understanding between the Department of Energy and the City of Manila extending the period of their stay at the Pandacan oil depot for another six months; and Ordinance 8119, passed in June 2006, further extending the oil firms’ stay to seven years were approved by his predecessor, now Environment Secretary Lito Atienza.
“To briefly discuss the above-mentioned ordinances authored and passed by then and now Councilors Joy Dawis-Asuncion, Ma. Lourdes ‘Bonjay’ Isip-Garcia, Manuel Zarcal, who are now acting as saviors and crusaders of the issue, which in truth and in fact have been created by themselves, it would be deemed that their crusade to stop the oil depots now is in conflict with what they have proposed and passed during the previous administration,” he said.
Lim said draft Ordinance 7177 was meant to benefit other companies like Philippine Match Co. (Phimco) Industries, Inc., Unilever Philippines, San Miguel Gas Plant, Manila Plastic Co.
Philmco made the request initially to be granted to stay in Manila, he added.
Lim said the big three oil companies were mentioned to create a big controversy.
Lim said Ordinance 8027 reclassified certain portions of Pandacan and Punta, Sta. Ana from industrial to commercial, and owners of industrial firms were given six months to move out.
Civil society group sues Manila dads
The civil society group Social Justice Society (SJS) filed yesterday an administrative complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against the 20 Manila councilors who supported draft Ordinance 7177.
The complainants are SJS legal counsel Vladimir Alarique Cabigao, Rhodele Gabac, Joel Escandor, Aida Martija, all officers and members of Advocates for Environmental and Social Justice.
The SJS sued Manila Councilors Arlene Koa, Ernesto Dionisio, Erick Ian Nieva, Moises Lim, Jesus Fajardo, Rolando Valeriano, Carlo Lopez, Ernesto Isip Jr., John Martin Nieto, Edward Maceda, Victoriano Melendez, Maria Sheilah Lacuna-Pangan, Louisito Chua, Josefina Siscar, Raymund Yupangco, Roderick Valbuena, Luciano Veloso, Danilo Victor Lacuna Jr., Salvador Philip Lacuna and John Russel Benedict Ibay.
The complainants said that on March 5, Koa filed with the city council a draft ordinance seeking to amend Ordinance 8027 by reverting to industrial classification the land use of the Pandacan oil depot.
The complainants said Ordinance 8027 was already upheld by the Supreme Court as a valid exercise of the police power of the city government.
The draft ordinance was passed on second reading by all the respondents on March 19, the complaint added.
“The foregoing act of respondents, of circumventing the (Supreme Court’s) decision by enacting an amending ordinance to Ordinance 8027, was made in bad taste and in bad faith,” read the complaint.
The petitioners said they requested for official transcripts of the proceedings but were never provided with copies.
Rosales to Lim: Intervene with oil depot issue
By Dennis Carcamo – Philippine Star March 25, 2009 02:27 PM
MANILA, Philippines — More than 70,000 residents who could be affected by the continued stay of the Pandacan Oil Depot were not consulted by local lawmakers regarding the matter, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales revealed today.
In a letter to Manila mayor Alfredo Lim, Rosales said residents of Punta, Sta. Ana, living near the oil depots were not informed of the city council’s plan to amend the zoning ordinance that will allow hazardous industries to operate in the area.
“They say that there was no consultation with them…their side on the matter was not considered,” Rosales said.
He also advised Lim to intervene before the council passes the proposed measure, which could have detrimental effects to the environment and the health of the people living in the area.
“Hastily acting on these amendments may only prove detrimental and more costly in the long run,” Rosales said.

BELOW IS THE LETTER OF CARDINAL GAUDENCIO ROSALES TO MANILA MAYOR ALFREDO LIM ABOUT CITY ORDINANCE 7177
Archdiocese of Manila Ministry on Ecology
Caritas Manila Compound
2002 Jesus St., Pandacan, Manila, Philippines
Contact Nos. (+632) 5623470
Telefax: (+632) 5619975
E-mail: ecology_rcam@yahoo.com
May 19, 2009
Honorable Alfredo Lim
Mayor
City of Manila
Dear Mayor Lim,
We, the bishops and priests of the Archdiocese of Manila in behalf of our flock and your constituents, write with respect to disturbing developments in the beautiful City of Manila. We are deeply disturbed over the passage of Ordinance 7177 which allows the continued operation and establishment of pollutive and highly pollutive industries in your City. We believe that in this day and age, these industries have no more place in the premier city of our country.
First, we are concerned over the safety, security, and well-being of residents in the affected areas of Sta. Ana and Pandacan. A massive conflagration, a terrorist attack, and an uncontrolled gas leak could easily wipe out a large number of the more than 80,000 residents living in the affected areas. We are also mindful of the deleterious effects of air and water pollution on the people in the affected areas, most of whom belong to the lower sectors of society. No amount of economic or financial gain, much less the 66 million that the City could collect from these industries, could ever answer for the countless human lives who could potentially perish from a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. That amount certainly will not be enough to compensate 80,000 lives, 40,000 lives, 10,000 lives, let alone a hundred lives.
Second, we are concerned over the safety, security, and well-being of people in adjoining cities and municipalities. The poison that these industries emit and produce will affect not only your City, but will have greater impact on the lives and well-being of people in other areas. Air and water pollution travel fast, and the effects could be more catastrophic for people along the slopes of Antipolo City or the banks of the Pasig River.
Third, Ordinance No. 7177 will negate whatever gains that have been achieved in the area of clean air, clean water, and land use legislation. It is ironic that while the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act command the phase-out of pollutive industries in the metropolis, the City Council would even go to the extent of allowing these industries to prosper in your City. Talk about respect for the rule of law. Do the councilors now think that they are above the rule of law which you have painstakingly espoused during your stint as Senator of the Republic and Mayor of the City?
Fourth, the passage of Ordinance No. 7177 shows extreme insolence and disrespect by the City Council of the Highest Court of the Land. While the City Council may have been within its rights to enact such an ordinance, the timing stinks, coming as it does on the heels of the Supreme Court decision kicking out the oil depots. What gave the councilors the right to make a mockery of the SC decision by immediately rushing an ill-conceived ordinance? Why did they enact the ordinance earlier when the SC was still adjudicating the case? The SC would not have wasted its time deciding a case that will be rendered moot and academic in the end.
We trust that you will remain true to your word that you will veto Ordinance 7177. Having been Senator and Secretary of the Republic, we believe that you will take the health and safety of the people as your number 1 priority . Please don’t fail us.
Yours sincerely,
(SGD.) +GAUDENCIO B. CARDINAL ROSALES
(with signatures of more than 100 priests and bishops)